Page 136 of In Your Wake

Zayne remains completely quiet, still rocking me.

I look up. “I said I’m pregnant.”

“Mm-hmm,” he replies a moment later, his tone neutral. Serious. “I heard you.”

“How are you not shocked?”

He shrugs. “I had a hunch. You’re nauseous. Moody. Missing work. You refusing alcohol sort of confirmed it.”

I sniffle back more tears, but he brings me against his chest again, hugging me tight.

“Shh, Bella. We’ve got this.”

“My lifesaver.”

“Always.”

Pulling myself together as best I can, I wipe my eyes with a tissue. “I’m sort of losing my mind here.”

“I can imagine. Do you know what you want to do?” He may not speak the words, but I hear what he’s really asking.

I love kids and always have. Some of my favorite moments this summer have involved babysitting Ella, Celia’s kid. But when I’ve thought about being a mom, way down the line, I pictured myself married, or at the very least in a relationship with the father. Not estranged, unsure if we’ll ever even speak again.

“I’d like to be a mom, I just never thought it would happen like this. But I’m keeping it. That’s a no-brainer.”

Zayne nods. “And what about Mitch?”

My lips open, but the words don’t come out. Or rather, I’m unsure how to put them into a coherent sentence.

“You know you need to tell him, right?” Zayne asks, handing me another tissue.

“Things are already so complicated between us, and now he’s in Germany, or whatever.” I release a loaded sigh, then blow my nose and sit up.

I have no idea what Mitchell’s up to, or even which team he’s playing for. Hell, he could be somewhere else entirely and I would be none the wiser unless Hunter told me.

“I don’t want to raise a child with someone who’s life is elsewhere. Someone who isn’t present. And I don’t want to make him choose.”

“Would he really be like that?”

Considering, I glare ahead, but I end up shrugging because I have no idea how Mitch would react. And I’m terrified of finding out.

“I know the two of you went through a lot while he was here,” Zayne says, tucking some of my hair behind my ear. “And I get why you’re afraid he won’t be available. But you need to tell him. If for no other reason than because he deserves to know. The kid is half his, after all.”

Narrowing my eyes, I purse my lips at him, then drop my head into my hands. “I know, I know. You’re right. I need to. But I’m not sure I can.”

“Have you told Hunter?”

I cackle. “Absolutely not. If he found out I was pregnant with his best friend’s child, he’d be the first to kill Mitch.”

“But Hunt is like super Zen.”

“Not when it comes to his baby sister, he isn’t.”

I blow my nose, balling the tissue and throwing it onto the table.

“And how would Mitch react if he heard it from someone else?”

My shoulders fall, and I shake my head. “Not great.”